Search launched for 2 captured policemen

Zamboanga City: Police forces have been deployed on Tuesday to track down members of the New People’s Army (NPA) tagged behind the capture of two policemen in Surigao del Norte, officials said.

Police authorities refrained from revealing the number of personnel involved in the search but cited that army troops were sent to Alegria town where NPA rebels reportedly seized PO3 Democrito Polvorosa and PO1 Marichel Contemplo.

The two were captured on November 16 near the village of Pongtud where the rebels established a roadblock.

They were on board a patrol car when around 24 rebels intercepted them.

Their capture came barely four days after rebels seized PO1 Junrie Amper in Malimono town in nearby Surigao del Sur.

The rebels have not issued any statement, although they are expected to claim responsibility in the coming days. Just this year, NPA rebels freed several policemen and soldiers in eastern Mindanao following appeals from their families.

Serving as the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the NPA has been engaged in a decades-long protracted armed struggle against the government for the establishment of a socialist state.